Jericho Old New Hope Chapter 2
by Incarta Inc
Summary: Jericho wakes up to find himself in a dark room. Little does he know life, that life as he knew it, has ended while he's been away...


Jericho blinked. Or at least, he thought he did. The darkness around him didnt seem to change either way. He was lying down, somewhere warm. Warm and dark. He pondered if this was death. His thoughts startled him and he tried to move his arms. They met metal on both sides. He closed his eyes tight, trying not to panic. He had no recolection of how he had got here, or indeed, where here just happened to be. He opened his eyes again. Still dark. No noise met his ears except his own uneasy breathing.

He raised and arm into the darkness above him. His hand met another smooth surface. It felt like glass. He sat up carefully, whincing at how stiff his joints felt. He began to remember something through the fog of his mind and as if by instinct, pushed against the glass. It moved, a hissing sound shortly followed, before the glass casing flipped to the side, allowing Jericho to sit up straight in his contained bed.

"The medi lab?..." he asked to no one. The room was empty and dark apart from a few blinking lights in the room. Jericho sighted many things wrong with this situation. One being that the medical labs were always busy and he could hear no sign of the usual hussle and bussle that should have filled the hallways outside of his room. Another being that he couldnt quite put his finger on why he was in here. He waited a moment, trying to collect his thoughts.

"...the commander ordered me in here...for healing and punishment..." he couldnt help but feel he was forgetting something, "I sure dont remember getting here though..."

He ran a hand through his hair, kind of at a loss at what to do next. Was he supposed to just wait here until someone came in? Previous stays at the medical labs had always finished with him waking up to a smiling doctor, ready to debrief him and send him back to work. This was the first time he had woken up to a dark, empty room. Jericho almost felt rejected and let out at a dissatisfied grunt as he hauled himself out of the regen tube, keeping a firm grip on the side of the capsule as he tried to adjust to his sleepy legs. He found he had to use alot more strength then he expected and had to heave himself back up twice before finally stumberling round to the front of the capsule and finding the same seat, connected to the front of all the tubes in this place.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He had never felt this tired before. He couldnt remember how long he had been sentenced to sleep, but an informed guess told him it was something long term.

He looked around from his seating, trying to pick out objects in the dark. To his left he sighted his regen capsules own monitor, flickering away to itself in the corner. Jericho couldnt read it from where he was, so after a few minutes of streching and careful warming up, he wobbled to his feet and clumped heavily round to get a better view. Standing on unsteady feet, he peered at the monitor, reading the image on screen.

"Subject: J103 - Jericho"

"Status: Online."

"Regeneration Complete."

"Power Stabalisation Complete"

"SubTank02 - Final reinforcing shields pending"

"Total Time: 04 Months, 04 days, 04 hours"

Jericho nearly fell over as he read the last line. He couldnt remember exactly how long he had been sentenced to hibernation for but he was damm sure it hadnt been that long. He turned away from the monitor in disgust, anger welling up inside.

"Hey!" he called out, stumberling across the room towards the door, "What's the meaning of this?"

He grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, stepping outside. He stopped dead in his tracks at the view that met him. Where he should have seen the corridor of the medical centre, he saw the outside world. A large crater at his feet and where it ended he could see the edge of the primeter wall. The rest of this side of the building was gone.

Jericho was taken aback. His situation seemed to be becoming more crazy by the minute. Was he dreaming? His mind still groggy, Jericho made his way down the half a hallway that had been left, looking for the exit.

"Oh..no..." he said as he approached the abandoned reception area and his view to the rest of the base came into his sights. He crashed out the doors and stopped, overlooking the horrific scene he found and hoped he'd never have to see again.

His base, his home that he had battled so hard to protect for years had been reduced to ruined buildings and smouldering wreckage. The roads were thick with debris and holes and a cold wind blew a thin layer of sand across the area. Everything was quiet. A ghost city.

Jericho fell to his knees with shock. So many more questions flooding his mind. How? When? Why? But the question that stuck out loudest in his cranium eventually made him lift his head from his hands and growl in anger at what he saw.

"...Who..."

---

Things were as bad as they looked. The base had been abandoned after what seemed to have been a large and deadly battle. Now only a lone reploid walked its streets, treading carefully and climbing where structures had collapsed, still shocked at what he had found after waking from a long slumber only minutes earlier.

Jericho stumbled into a very degenrated looking part of the residential district. Alot of people had lived here. He had found plenty of bodies on the way here. Some of them badly mangled and horrifically scarred. It was from these that Jericho had slowly come to the conclusion that this attack had been occustrated by maveriks.

In desperation, he shouted into the area, "Hello?". A howl of more wind was all that answered him. He began to feel his anger sweeping through his body. He cleanched his fists and turned away.

"Why did they make me sleep. If they hadnt maybe I..." he stopped himself and sighed. He knew even if he had been here, his help on a scale this big may not have made much difference. He was only one hunter. A good one, but still a lone warrior. He could only hope now that any suvivors might have escaped into the desert. But their survival out there would be preety unlikely.

Suddently he felt vunrable. And the more he thought about it the more he realised just how much danger he was actually in. Out in the open without armor or his saber, shouting his head off looking for people. He dashed for a nearby building, leaping inside through a broken window.

He peeped outside, scanning the area with his eyes, his hunter training taking over. He didnt see anyone, but that didnt mean he was neccisarily safe. He grumbled to himself for being so overwelmed by the situation. He should have known better.

He sat back in his hiding spot, leaning against the front of a counter. He was in some form of clothes shop, which had taken some fire damage. Most of the goods had taken fire damage, but Jericho managed to salvage a shirt from the floor and put it on. It wasnt much protection, but at least it was warm.

He began to worry again, looking out the window, turning his head to look both ways down the street. He knew he was not safe here. He had to move.

Stepping quietly out the window, he began to march quietly down the road, watching his surroundings carefully for any life. He couldnt shake the feeling that he was being watched, but none of his other senses made that claim, so he tried to think of other things, like what to do next. He knew he had to get his things. He still felt a little cloudy on some of his memories, but he seemed to recall leaving them at his appartment before having to go somewhere. He made it to a crossroads. And after scanning each route carefully, he trotted off down the road that led to his building. He hoped it was still standing. Most of the buildings were, but alot had taken damage. He soonmet oneof these perticuly unlucky buildings, which had spread one side of itself all over the road ahead. The rear end of an army truck could be seen sticking out of the debris. It didnt take long for Jericho to realise what could be in the truck.

"Weapons..."

----

"yuk"

Jericho had quickly made his way across the open road and dived rather recklessly into the back of the vehicle, only to be met by the sight of a human impaled through the chest inside by a metal pipe. Just one of many painful deaths Jericho had discovered in his years. He felt glad he hadnt been on the receving end of any of them yet.

He began to hunt around the truck, ignoring the body as best he could.

"Damm." He said to himself. Most of the crates were empty or crushed by the weight of the building that fell on it. Only some smoke grenades were salvagable. No weapons or armour plating. This truck had either just made a delievary or had been raided after it had been stoppped. Either way, Jericho didnt feel much safer.

He peeked out from inside checking the area again before hopping out into the sandy air again. He began scaling the rubble. His appartment block, if it still stood, wasnt far away from here.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he bounded the last few steps of the summit and looked out upon the area, his own building still standing at the end of the road. It didnt look in great shape, but it was upright. Which could only be a good sign.

He leaped down to the ground below in a couple of big jumps. He seemed to be loosening up preety nicely, despite how long he'd been in status for. He began to ponder why the pods hadnt woken him up automatically. Perhaps a safety precaution, he thought.

"04 months, 04 weeks, 04 hours" he said to himself. He couldnt help but ponder if the combination of numbers making up his total time asleep was more then just a conicidence.

His mind snapped back to more pending matters, as he'd gradually picked up speed as he approached his target building. It looked preety rough. Broken windows, cracking in the stone work and the roof appeared to be missing, though it was hard to tell. Jericho hoped it hadnt caved in on his room.

He stepped inside through a broken lobby window, checking around him and inside one more time. He still couldnt shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He shrugged and started exploring the lobby area.

It was abandoned. Unsurprisingly. He didnt even attept to call the lift and instead made straight for the stairs. There had been a fire here. It seemed a gas pipe had gone off and sent a fireball straight up the stairwell. It was a miracle more damage was not done. He didnt get very far before scorched bodies began to appear. These poor souls didnt stand a chance.

He rounded another set of stairs and made it to the 2nd floor. Halfway to the 3rd, he stopped at another body. The body of a reploid hunter. Jericho recognised him.

"Virlen." He knelt by the fallen warrior. Jericho had battled alongside Virlen many times, but had also considered him a friend. Jericho sighed, "...didnt even get out of the block. This was not the way you should have gone" He frowned. Wondering once again what the fate of his other companions had been. He rested against the burnt wall and stared at the wall on the otherside. He still thought if his presence in this war at the time of the attack could have made a difference. But looking back apon his retired comrade, a hunter he knew had great ability, all clad out in armour and ready for battle, he couldnt have hoped to have done much better against a lucky shot at the buildings gas pipes. It looked like a preety quick, if somewhat painful death. He resisted thanking good luck for putting his own self out of harms way. Tucked away in a corner of the medical wards.

He was about to get up again when something attached to Virlen's belt caught his eye. He reached out and unclipped it, his eyes lighting up.

"A Saber!" he exclaimed out loud, his voice echoing down the stairwell. Half relieved at finding it and half worried that it might not work after Virlen had tumbled down a flight of stairs, he flicked it on. A green coloured energy beam exited out of the business end of the hunter's weapon indicating it was still very much in one piece and full working order. Jericho smiled, placing a hand on Virlen's shoulder.

"Thankyou old friend"

He stood up and continued his accent to the 4th floor. He reached it quickly, only to find the way to his room barred by the ceiling, which had half caved in inside the hallway. He grumbled, flicking the saber on again as he had done in the stairwell. He carefully sliced a way through with precise cuts to areas he could tell were not holding the rest of the building up. He didnt dare use his buster. Lucky for him the whole corridor had not come down and he was soon through.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he made it to his door, taking a moment to catch his breath before forcing it open. He cringed at the mess made by part of the roof that seemed to have piledrived itself straight through his closet. Bricks and mortor lay everywhere. But his luck seemed to be holding out for the moment at least, as he spied his belongins right where he had left them. On the bed under a layer of dust.

He smiled and stepped into the room. He noticed something unusual from his very first step inside. A feeling of sinking. He looked down to find the carpet giving way below him. He cried out, leaping for the bed post and clinging on for dear life as the carpet fell away revealing a large hole obscured underneath it, ingulfing the bricks and letting them crash noisly to the next floor down. It wasnt long before the closet followed suit, crashing even louder to the floor below. He swung himself up onto the bed, which had just escaped falling down the hole as well. He lay there for a moment, wondering what might have happened to his stuff if he had been a tidy person and had put it all away in the closet.

The building went quiet again. Jericho decided it was safe to breath for a moment and let out a deep sigh. He quickly stifled that again as a creaking from below began to emanate again. He cringed as he listened to the floor below give way, sending his closet through another floor and to his dismay, another and another, before crashing to the bottom floor with a loud crunch and crash of several ceilings hitting the concrete floor of the lobby. The echo seemed to take a small age to end and when it did it only made way for a new sound. The sound of a building on its last legs and the cursing of a lone reploid struggling to gathering his things several floors up as the ceiling of his roof crumbled around him.

"Shit" Jericho cried as the whole building trembled. He was fresh out of time and had no immediate way out. He peered down the hole again. He could see the ground floor covered in three floors worth of debris and one shattered closet. He needed to get down there, quickly.

He fiddled with his things, an idea forming in his head. He slung his dash booster on his back, fixing it in place. He knew it had little floating ability, but he had no choice. Standing on his bed, his belongings cradled in his arms, he stepped off into the hole. He tried to fall with his dash booster pointing down, activating it as he fell to try and slow his descent. It didn't work quite as well as he hoped and the panicked reploid soon crashed to the ground floor after doing a nice little somersault between the 3rd and 2nd floors and landing hard on his ass. He cringed as pain shot through his spine all the way to his neck. He somehow managed to keep a tight grip on his bundle of things but feared he may go no further with them now if his legs were broken. He looked up, eyes widening as the roof of the top floor began to shed daylight above him. It was coming down. Jericho knew he was fresh out of time now and practically ordered himself to stand up and move. He did and stumbled for the exit, slowly breaking into a run as the pain eased off just enough to allow survival.

He didn't look back and kept running, falling to the ground almost simultaneously as the loud crash of his apartment block came crashing to the ground. He lay in the dirt of the hill, blinking as he listened to the sound of breaking glass and shattered stone falling under the weight of gravity, before slowly quieting down. He was still there when all went silent again and the sound of the wind returned quietly to his hearing. He sighed sitting up right and looking over his shoulder. The freshly demolished building joined many of the others in ruin now. He rubbed his back with one hand while sorting his things with the other. Everything he needed seemed to be there. He smiled briefly before the realisation of what had just occurred hit him like a train. Any maverick left in the base would have heard that building come down and he was sitting on his ass out in the open for all to see. With a groan he got back to his feet, slapping his helmet awkwardly on his head and began jogging quickly for the high street and the abandoned building he could use for cover.

He looked all about him as he ran, trying to shake off the dizziness. The fall hadn't helped matters. He was wobbling as he finally stumbled inside a random building, a shop, and planted himself behind the counter out of view of the outside world.

He coughed and rubbed his back again. He groaned quietly. He seemed to spend his whole life nursing wounds and taking bumps these days. He'd only been awake a few hours and he already felt pretty banged up. He sat, leaning back against the counter for a minute before fixing his helmet to his head properly and activating its extra sensory abilities. It came online ok and Jericho's hearing was almost immediately enhanced. He listened carefully to the world outside, almost hoping to pick up on some sign of life outside. He heard more creaking buildings and the wind was always there, but nothing that suggested someone or something in the immediate vicinity. His radio wasn't picking up anything either. He was a little disheartened by this, but at least it meant he was safe, even if it meant remaining alone for the time being. The lack of any mavericks attracted by the noise of a collapsing building meant they were all gone long ago.

Now all he needed was a moment to think of what to do next. He was stuck in an abandoned base all on his own in the middle of a large expanse of desert. The nearest inhabited area he knew of from his current location was a city to the north called Neopolis. It was several days walk away and the trail would almost certainly see him run into more mavericks along the way. But it was safe haven, for the most part. He didn't like the prospect of trying to cross the sands solo but he didn't seem to have much choice. And he certainly didn't want to do it on foot.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to. Provided he could salvage something from the transport hanger. He slung his armour on and clipped Virlen's Sabre to his belt on the opposite side to his own. Now he felt more confident. Fully equipped and ready for action. He stomped across the store, grabbing a satchel from one of the shelf's and grabbing some non perishable foods, stuffing them in his bag. A minute later he was out in the street, looking left and right with a bag of supplies over his shoulder. Everything looked different with a layer of sand on it and it took him a few minutes to gather his bearings and a route to the hanger. He was soon on his way, walking through the middle of the street now, not worried about being seen. He trusted his senses that told him he was alone, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched from above. Nevertheless he carried on and just as he thought, met no one along the way. He wasn't looking for anyone either. He knew what he had to do and was focused on his task. His chances of survival now were slim if he couldn't get himself out of the desert and to civilisation quickly.

After some scrambling around and a few wrong turns, Jericho eventually stumbled across what was left of the transport depot. Most of the warehouses lay in ruin or were completely burnt out and Jericho's heart began to sink as he searched what little was left for anything that might be fast, reliable, working transport. So far, nothing met the criteria.

He was about to enter his 5th containment area of the late afternoon when something stopped him at the entrance. A very low, quiet blip had reached his sensors. He'd sensed this kind of signal before while out on missions. From what he could gather it could be any number of things, from a reploid near death or in a deep sleep mode, to a small radio transmitter. He was pretty sure it was close, but where exactly he couldn't tell. It was definitely inside the hanger though. He frowned, drawing his sabre from his belt but not activating it. He knew he shouldn't be taking chances, but if this strange signal turned out to be a survivor he had to investigate. And if all else failed, at least this hanger seemed in good condition. Maybe something in the gloom at the back would still be workable. He took a few paces inside and almost immediately regretted the decision as something laying in the centre of the building clicked and whirled to life, sitting up to stare directly at him. Jericho's sabre activated and shined a strong blue in the shadow. The reploid before him clambered to its feet and slowly stretched to the roof of the building. Its pincer like hands clamped together as the hulking machine looked down at Jericho. It had obviously been in hibernation and didn't look like any reploid Jericho knew had been living at the base. It didn't look too friendly either.

"Jericho!" it boomed, "You're awake!"

The hunter didn't move, "..Do I know you?"

The bulky reploid cackled, "Not likely. But your reputation proceeds you. You're the one who killed one half of the Tigterazor brothers in the desert. Quite an achievement…" he snarled. Jericho didn't answer, but knew full well who the reploid was talking about. One of the two mavericks he killed protecting the convoy on his last mission. He distinctly remembered slicing its head off just before blacking out after having his leg ripped off by the same beast.

"Yeeesss. Thrasher was none too pleased about the death of his brother, Mosh. And he was even more unhappy when the boss ordered you not to be harmed when we found your ass asleep in that status tube…"

Jericho was puzzled, "Well, your boss must not be too smart then." he held his sabre a little tighter, expecting that wouldn't go down too well.

The reploid growled, its pincers making a tapping noise as he leaned forward, "Indeed. And let me tell you. Thrasher isn't the only one who was unhappy at the decision" he chuckled evilly putting Jericho on edge. And for good reason as Jericho had to leap backwards and role out of the way as an armourment fixed to the giant mavericks shoulder toasted the area he'd just been standing in with a flamethrower. He retreated outside, tossing his backpack to one side as the big robot followed.

"Thought you were under orders not to harm me, maverick…" Jericho called back, a hint of cockiness in his voice.

The hulking reploid stomped around outside the hanger, "We're the only ones here. Who's gonna know?" A pincer arm extended towards Jericho, which was quickly deflected into the ground with a sabre slash, "Besides, do you think I'm gonna turn down the opportunity to kill a big name like you?"

Jericho was now on the attack, attempting to slice the pincer arm he had just grounded but was intercepted by the second arm. He had to bash it away and back flip away from the other as it swung back to life, trying to knock him down.

Another lick of flame which Jericho narrowly avoided with a roll. He was quickly back on his feet, buster ready and let off a charged round at the maverick. It smashed into its chest. The behemoth cursed loudly as the shot impacted and made him wobble on his stumpy toes. Jericho advanced again, only to get swatted away like a bug by the left arm coming to meet him. He slid back across the dusty ground but rolled through and onto his feet again, now clutching his sabre with both hands as the pair of pincers rushed towards him again. He slashed one away again and managed to roll forward and under the second ones grasp. He leapt out of his roll and slashed the arm. It didn't cut all the way through like he hoped but it did damage it, slowing the right pincer. The maverick didn't like that and quickly countered with more flame. Jericho leapt backwards to escape, only to get caught in the left pincer coming back. Jericho was swiftly lifted into the air, his sabre carrying arm and the same one with buster capabilities, squashed to his side. The monstrous maverick cackled loudly as he reeled Jericho in towards the burning flames. But to the mavericks horror, one of Jericho's arms was still free. And it was now clutching a second green sabre. A split second later the pincer was sliced from the extended arm and Jericho fell to the ground, free and armed to the teeth. No sooner had the hunters feet touched the ground, he dashed forward and impaled the maverick in the torso with the green sabre and laid a big horizontal slash across its chest with the blue one.

The mavericks roared, its arms falling limp and the body toppled backwards into the entrance of the building with a loud crash and thud. Jericho stepped away as the fallen enemy began to catch fire and burn from the inside out. His signal gone for good.

Jericho smiled and turned off both the sabres, "Thanks again Virlen…", he said quietly, fastening his friend's sabre back to his belt again.

He collected his satchel and stepped inside the hanger. He began rooting around the partially collapsed building, questions beginning to form in his head again.

"Why did the maverick leader who organised the downfall of the base decide to spare me?" … "Did it extend the timer on my status tank?" … "And if it did… why?" … "Where is it now?" … " I wonder who…ah-ha!"

A small miracle. Propped up in the corner under a plastic sheet was a untouched air bike. Light blue and not a scratch on it. No reason for it not to work, Jericho thought. He wheeled it out to the centre of the room and gave it a kick start. It coughed and stalled, but on the second attempt it choked to life and was soon floating with a nice purring noise inside the hanger.

"Awesome" Jericho exclaimed, climbing onto the saddle. He had been trained in how to use an air bike and had used them sparsely in the field but had never owned one of his own before. He gently twisted the throttle, drove outside the hanger, carefully avoiding the smoking maverick he had just fell and surveyed the view. Another place he had called home now lay in ruin. He wasn't sure how, but with a little luck he had somehow survived the disaster that had befallen his comrades and once again he was left alone in the world with only himself to depend on. He couldn't help but get a sense of familiarity from his situation. Only this time he knew what to do next. Dwelling on the past would get him no where. He had to move on.

With one last look around, he smiled, clung to the bike and sped off into sunset.


End file.
